Residents shocked after police seize deadly weapons

Residents in a small Cape Breton community are expressing shock over a significant seizure of drugs and weapons earlier this week.

Neighbours say the people charged in the case are seldom spotted, and now they have an idea why.

Jason Blinkhorn, 34, and Wendolynne Avery, 39, live in a rustic log home in Southside Boularderie.

From the outside, things seem normal. Their home is decorated for Christmas and major renovations to the property are evident. Three cars are parked in the yard, including a luxury European sedan.

But now the house sits vacant after a police raid Tuesday night, which netted one of the biggest drugs and weapons seizures in officers’ recent memory.

Among the items seized are several deadly weapons, including an AK47, a loaded .22 calibre handgun, a bow and arrows, a bulletproof vest, bear spray and ammunition.

Police also seized hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of street drugs, including a kilogram of cocaine, a kilogram of hashish, 40 pounds of marijuana, 20,000 tablets of ecstasy and a large amount of steroids.

“The most shocking part for me was the guns that they confiscated,” says neighbour Beverly MacMullin.

She says she and other area residents rarely laid eyes on the couple who live in the home.

“I would not know the man himself at all,” says MacMullin. “I might recognize her if I saw her, but that would be it, to wave, or maybe something like that.”

Aaron Goo Goo runs an outfitters’ shop that sells a variety of weapons for hunting and target practice.

He says there is only one way criminals could obtain a lethal weapon like an AK47.

“They are prohibited weapons because they are automatic, and the only way I can think of them getting into Canada is being smuggled,” says Goo Goo.

Police say the bust is proof of a link between violence and the drug trade and that criminals are not exempt from the law, even while operating in remote or rural communities.

Blinkhorn and Avery are facing a slew of charges in connection with the seizure, including possession for the purpose of trafficking, unsafe storage of firearms, and possession of a prohibited weapon.

It is expected they will remain behind bars until bail hearings are held after Christmas.